Household play and exercise post assembly for cats

ABSTRACT

A household cat play and exercise post assembly of a knockdown nature which is adapted to be assembled in a stationary vertical floor to ceiling position in a room and is composed of separable wooden post sections joined in end-to-end contact by interfitting removable dowels and horizontal platforms anchored by the dowels at selected joints between the post sections that extend from a floor-engaging baseplate to a ceiling engaging top plate attached to the uppermost post section by a spring-biased dowel.

D United States Patent 1 3,595,209

[72] lnventor Paul A. Parker 3,327,310 6/1967 Bethune et a1 248/351 X Bouckville, N.Y. 13310 3,437,060 4/1969 Giambalvo 108/151 [21] Appl No 794,735 3,479,990 1 1/1969 Crow 119/1 [22] Filed Jan. 28, 1969 3,479,991 1 H1969 Lichtenberger. 1 19/29 X [45] Patented July 27, 1971 [54] HOUSEHOLD PLAY AND EXERCISE POST Primary Examiner-Aldrich F. Medbery Attorney-Stowe" & Stowell ABSTRACT: A household cat play and exercise post assembly of a knockdown nature which is adapted to be assembled in a stationary vertical floor to ceiling position in a room and is composed of separable wooden post sections joined in end-toend contact by interfitting removable dowels and horizontal platforms anchored by the dowels at selected joints between the post sections that extend from a floor-engaging baseplate to a ceiling engaging top plate attached to the uppermost post section by a spring-biased dowel.

PATENTEDJULNIHYI SHEET 2 OF 2 3,595,209

H INVENTOR a #28 PAUL A. PARKER ATTORNEYS 26 24 [4 v 7 a fiudK/r HOUSEHOLD PLAY AND EXERCISE POST ASSEMBLY FOR CATS overall form of an upright floor-mounted stand that primarily serves as a scratching and short climbing post whereby indoor cats can sharpen their claws and amuse themselves in a very limited climbing fashion. However, more sophisticated post arrangements are known which attempt to simulate outdoor trees so as to offerto the housekept cat a device that has the desired and necessary attributes of a real tree. Most commonly, such arrangements are in'the structural nature of involved and complicated constructions which necessarily means that they are expensive, difficult to install and, once installed," are permanently positioned in a room of a house. Further, such arrangements do not lend themselves to use by a feline from its kitten stage-of development on into and through its full maturity so as to satisfy all .of the physiological and psychological needs of a cat regardless of its size or age. In addition, such arrangements do not take into consideration all of a'cats' normal play and exercise activities and only serve as a device that can be used by the animal for certain specific purposes rather than functioning as an outlet for all of a cat's physical,- psychological and biological needs and desires, such as serving as a scratching post, claw sharpener, exerciser, climber and amusement and entertaining center.

The present invention is a knockdown post assembly which is formed from a plurality of wooden parts that are interconnected and assembled by simple interconnecting dowels, thereby avoiding the use of any fasteners or tools. The post assembly is a small, easily transportable package-type arrangement which can instantly be assembled and erected in a stationary and secure floor to ceiling placement in anyv room in a house or other building. The erected post assembly is practically indestructable and cannot damage any room in which it is installed. it is very sturdy in its erected and assembled condition and is especially designed to satisfy all of a cats normal urges and desires. The post assembly is designed to function as a scratching post, claw sharpener, exerciser, climber and full play center for cats of all sizes and ages. And it is so designed and formed that it can be placed in any room 1 of a house without detracting from the appearance of the room. in fact, it is designed to serve as a conversation piece for the home.

The post assembly is self-supporting in its placement between the floor and the ceiling of a room by virtue of a selfcontained but simple spring arrangement so that it cannot mar the floor or ceiling and does not require any fastening to the floor or ceiling or any other part of a room. It is formed from a plurality of post sections that are interconnected by center dowels with the post sections being so formed that the post assembly can be securely positioned in any room regardless of the height of the room.

The post assembly includes one or more horizontal platforms that are anchored thereto by the dowels with the platform or platforms being placed at selected joints between the post sections and extending outwardly from the vertically aligned post sections. The platform or platforms are formed with cutout portions which make iteasier for a cat to climb the post sections and reach the top surface of the platforms or to crawl over and around the platforms.

Thus, a primary objectof the present invention is to provide a cat climbing, exercising and amusement post assembly which has all of the attributes of an outdoor tree, which is of a knockdown structural nature and which canbe installed temporarily in a secure and stationary floor to ceiling placement in any room regardless of theheight of the room and without attachment of any part thereof to the room so as to mar the surfaces of the room.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a very simple, sturdy and inexpensive household play and exercise post assembly for use by felines of allsizes and ages, with the same being useable by a kitten or mature cat without possibility of the animal being injured in such use.

A further'important object of the present invention is to provide a kit form cat climber which can be carried in a com pact package form when disassembled and which can readily and easily be erected in any part ofa room without attachment to any part of the room.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view ofthe post assembly of the present invention, showing the same installed between the floor and the ceiling of a room, which is only fragmentarily and generally illustrated. a

FIG. 2 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing in plan view the platform which is carried horizontally by the erected post assembly at the joints between the post sections of the assembly.

' FIG. 3 is a fragmentary,'d etailed, vertical sectional view showing the manner in which the adjoining post sections are pinned together by the interconnecting dowels which also serve, as shown in such figure, to anchor the platform to the erected post assembly.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the post assembly with some of the post sections being eliminated in order to illustrate on a larger scale the manner in which the interconnecting dowels pin the adjoining post sections together in vertical alignment and to show the manner in which the baseplate supports the erected post assembly and the top plate is spring urged into anchoring engagement with the ceiling of the room.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the baseplate, lower post section, interconnecting dowels and the platform.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the household play and exercise post assembly 10 is composed of a plurality of round post sections 12 formed from soft wood and positioned in end-to-end vertical alignment between a fiat baseplate 14 seated on the floor 16 of a room and a similar flat top plate 18 engaging the ceiling 20 of the room, as shown most clearly in FIG. 1.

The baseplate 14 is preferably formed from wood and is in the shape of a flat annular disc having a flat bottom surface 22 adapted to rest flat on the floor 16. The upper surface 24 of the baseplate 14 is also flat and is centrally formed with a round socket 26 in which a dowel 28 is adapted to be socketed with a slight tolerance between the bounding wall of the socket and the wall of the inserted end portion 30 of the dowel.

The top plate I8 is similar to the baseplate and has a flat upper surface 32 which is adapted to bear firmly against the ceilingv20 of the room. The underside 34 of the top plate is formed centrally with a socket 36 in 'which the upper end portion 38 of a top dowel 40, that is identical to the dowel 28, is socketed in the erected state of the post assembly.

The post sections 12 are of identical diameters. A preferred diameter is 4 inches because such will enable a kitten or a fullgrown cat to wrap its paws around the post sections with full climbing confidence. The post sections are formed with opposing flat ends that are centrally: bored so as to provide central dowel-receiving bores 42 in the opposite ends of the post sections. The bores 42 are of the same diameters and are of equal diameters with the sockets in the baseplate l4 and the top plate 18.

The bore 42a in the upper end of the uppermost post section is adapted to house a coil spring 44 which is loosely fitted therein so that it rests on the bottom or the inner end of the bore 42a and compressively underlies the inserted lower end portion 46 of the top dowel 40 so as to bias the top plate 18 into secure engagement with the ceiling 20 of the room.

The adjoining ends of the post sections 12 intermediate the uppermost post section 12a andthe bottom post section 12b have their bores 42 in vertical alignment so as to receive the interconnecting dowels 28 with a very slight tolerance, on the order of one thirty-second inch, therebetween. The dowels 28 pin the post sections together in vertical alignment with the adjoining ends of adjacent post sections being in contact except where a platform member or element 48 may be firmly anchored in interposition therebetween, as will be described.

The bottom post section 12b is composed of more than one single section whereas the top and intermediate post sections are in the form of single pieces of soft wood of identical length, preferably on the order of about 2 feet in length. In order that the post assembly can be adaptable for mounting in any room regardless of the height thereof, the bottom post section 12b is made of a number of end-bored pieces of varying lengths. For example, the bottom post section includes a plurality of similar round sections having opposing flat ends provided with central bores with the sections being of differing lengths ranging from one section of 6 inches, another section of 1 foot to a further section of 1% feet. By virtue of such varying height bottom section 12b the post assembly is adaptable to a room of any height in 6-inch step increments with any fractional difference being compensated for by the spring mounting of the top plate which is the anchor plate in securing the post assembly between the floor and the ceiling.

As shown in detail in FlGS. 2--4, the platform element 48 is in the form ofa flat plate ofa round configuration so that it is a disc similar in overall appearance to the base and top plates. The platform plate 48 is formed from wood and has a center aperture 50 adapted to receive the dowels 28 which anchor the platform plate between adjoining ends of adjacent post sections. The opposing flat faces of the platform plate firmly engage the flat ends of the adjacent post sections and such post sections hold the platform plate in a secure horizontal placement so that the platform plate radially projects from the post assembly. A single platform plate may be provided and the same may initially, when the feline is in a kitten stage of development, be positioned between the bottom post section 12b and the next higher post section. Then, as the cat matures and grows, the single platform plate may be single from such placement and positioned further up on the post assembly between the adjoining ends of higher up post sections. On the other hand, a number of identical platform plates may be provided with one being positioned at each joint between the post sections or at selected joints between post sections.

The platform plate or plates 48 are formed with angular cutout portions 52 that are defined by right-angularly related sides 54 extending radially from the center hub 56 which has an arcuate surface 58 that forms the root of the cutout portion, such circumferential surface being struck on the same radius as the post sections and being flush with the outer surfaces of the post sections. The cutout portion in each platform plate or in the single platform plate, as the case may be, is provided to render it easier for the cat to climb the post sections and pass through the plate platforms without having to climb up and over the peripheral edge thereof. When the cat passes up through the cutout portion in a platform plate, then the animal can sit on the flat upper surface of the platform plate or can crawl around the edge thereof.

In assembling the post assembly, the post sections are tied together by the interconnecting dowels 28 until all the post sections are in alignment. Then, the top plate is placed against the ceiling with the final step being to push the assembled post assembly up against the ceiling thereby compressing the tension coil spring. The bottom dowel 28 for the bottom post section 12b is then slid over the upper surface 24 of the properly positioned baseplate 14 until the lower end portion thereof mates with the socket 26. At this point, the post assembly is lowered into position with the end portion 30 of the bottom dowel 28 becoming socketed in the socket 26 of the baseplate. This will leave the spring 44 under sufficient compression to keep the post assembly in a secure and stationary vertical position between the floor and the ceiling of the room.

When thus properly assembled, there will be sufficient spring compression tension on the post assembly 10 to keep it stable at the ceiling and floor bearing points. Complete stability will be maintained at all times by this pressure with all of the weight being on the floor 16 regardless of the size and amount of physical activity of the feline on the post assembly.

The post sections 12, 12a and 12b are of an ideal diameter so that a kitten or fully matured cat may wrap its paws around the post sections with full confidence to climb the post assembly, The soft wood makeup of the post sections will be a natural inducement for the animal to climb the device because of the easy penetrability of the post sections by the claws of the feline, ensuring the animal of a safe hold at all times.

The knockdown nature and easy portability of the post assembly 10 can be appreciated and such will enable an owner to move the assembly from one location to another in the home, either on a seasonal basis or even on a daily basis so as to change the environment for the assembly in accordance with many factors for the greater use and enjoyment of the assembly by the housekept cat. By virtue of its presence in the home the cat will be easily dissuaded from climbing on furniture ofdrapes.

While the best known form of the present invention has been shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that such description, the abstract and the summary are merely explanatory of one form of the invention and that many changes therein will occur to those skilled in the art with such falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims. For example, while a device has been shown wherein the bottom section is constructed from one, l-foot member and two, 6-inch members, a typical kit may include I-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-inch sections, suitably bored for matching dowel lengths so that a greater number of play platforms may be inserted and so that the device may be employed in even nonstandard height rooms.

What I claim is:

1. An animal, especially a feline, play and exercise device for knockdown installation in an enclosure having a floor and a ceiling comprising, a plurality of solid integral post sections, including at least a lowermost post section and an uppermost post section, said post sections being disposed in end-to-end relation and installed in vertical alignment between the floor and the ceiling, said post sections being of substantially similar cross-sectional shape and size and having flat surfaced opposing centrally bored ends, the cross-sectional areas of said ends being substantially greater than said bores, dowels fitted with slight tolerance in the bores in said ends and interconnecting adjoining ends of adjacent post sections together into a stable vertical post assembly with the flat-surfaced ends in continuous substantially coextensive bearing contact, a play platform disposed horizontally at a selected joint between adjoining post sections, and projecting outwardly therefrom, said platform including a flat plate having a peripheral cutout portion with the side edges thereof extending angularly from the peripheries of the post sections through the outer edge of the plate, and a center hub portion having a peripheral edge forming the foot of the cutout portion and being flush with the outer surfaces of the post sections, said hub portion having a center aperture of similar size with said bores in said post sections through which a post section joining dowel is passed, opposed substantially flat faces of said hub portion and flat-surfaced ends of said post sections being in substantially coextensive bea ring engagement to firmly hold said plate between said post sections, a baseplate adapted to rest on the floor and having an upper surface formed with a socket, a dowel fitted in said socket and in the bore in the adjoining lower end of the adjacent lowermost post section, a top plate adapted to bear against the ceiling and having an underside provided with a socket, a dowel fitted in such socket in the top plate and in the bore in the adjoining upper end of the uppermost post section, and compression spring means carried by the post assembly for retaining the baseplate and the top plate in tight bearing engagement of the floor and the ceiling with the post sections tightly and firmly held in an axial vertical therebetween.

2. The invention of claim I. wherein said spring means includes a coil spring freely seated and contained within the alignment 

1. An animal, especially a feline, play and exercise device for knockdown installation in an enclosure having a floor and a ceiling comprising, a plurality of solid integral post sections, including at least a lowermost post section and an uppermost post section, said post sections being disposed in end-to-end relation and installed in vertical alignment between the floor and the ceiling, said post sections being of substantially similar crosssectional shape and size and having flat surfaced opposing centrally bored ends, the cross-sectional areas of said ends being substantially greater than said bores, dowels fitted with slight tolerance in the bores in said ends and interconnecting adjoining ends of adjacent post sections together into a stable vertical post assembly with the flat-surfaced ends in continuous substantially coextensive bearing contact, a play platform disposed horizontally at a selected joint between adjoining post sections, and projecting outwardly therefrom, said platform including a flat plate having a peripheral cutout portion with the side edges thereof extending angularly from the peripheries of the post sections through the outer edge of the plate, and a center hub portion having a peripheral edge forming the foot of the cutout portion and being flush with the outer surfaces of the post sections, said hub portion having a center aperture of similar size with said bores in said post sections through which a post section joining dowel is passed, opposed substantially flat faces of said hub portion and flat-surfaced ends of said post sections being in substantially coextensive bearing engagement to firmly hold said plate between said post sections, a baseplate adapted to rest on the floor and having an upper surface formed with a socket, a dowel fitted in said socket and in the bore in the adjoining lower end of the adjacent lowermost post section, a top plate adapted to bear against the ceiling and having an underside provided with a socket, a dowel fitted in such socket in the top plate and in the bore in the adjoining upper end of the uppermost post section, and compression spring means carried by the post assembly for retaining the baseplate and the top plate in tight bearing engagement of the floor and the ceiling with the post sections tightly and firmly held in an axial vertical alignment therebetween.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said spring means includes a coil spring freely seated and contained within the bore in the upper end of the uppermost post section and underlying the inserted lower end of the dowel fitted in the top ceiling engaging plate, said dowels fitting said sockets with a very slight tolerance. 